“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton
He is best remembered as part of the Jim Cornette-managed tag team Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and later Stan Lane. Condrey and Eaton are regarded as the most decorated tag team of all time, compiling a total of 50 tag team titles (though this is unverified).
First in Mid-South and then in WCW, they had legendary battles against the Rock n Roll Express, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson. Some of my all-time favorite tag team matches were between the Midnight Express and Rock n Roll Express. In another of my all-time favorite matches, they faced the Road Warriors at Starcade in November of 1986 in a dangerous scaffold match.
With the tag team success continuing through the decade, Eaton never really had the opportunity for individual attention. He also flew under the radar a little because of his mild-mannered personality outside of the ring, though he usually had Cornette with him to create all of the heat necessary. Eaton, who was very skillful, natural and versatile in the ring, was considered by his peers as one of the best workers in the business.
In addition to a reputation as one of the nicest guys in the locker room, other wrestlers considered it a pleasure to work with Eaton because of his skills and ability to create convincing action. He was just too valuable as a tag team competitor and never got his shot at a solo push which he seemed just fine with.
His tag team success certainly overshadowed his individual skills, but when you are considered one of the best of the best by your peers and not necessarily recognized as so by the public, that makes you pretty underrated in my book.
It was difficult to narrow it down to five, so here are a couple more honorable mentions: “Ravishing” Rick Rude, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, “Leaping” Lanny Poffo, The Magnificent Don Muraco and Bam Bam Bigelow. Are there any others from the 80s that you would add to the list?
Old School Tim is author of the 80s pop culture blog Kickin’ it Old School where he reminisces regularly about his favorite decade and shares lots of 80s awesomeness including exclusive interviews. Please also be sure to LIKE his Facebook page and FOLLOW on Twitter @OldSchool80s.
Good post, I love old school wrestling memories and thoughts
I wouldnt consider Steamboat, Perfect, Rude, Snake, or The Von Erich’s underrated they are loved by all (and I think most were brought up during the USF Fantasy Wrestling Draft .. not sure though)
Underrated for me are really good wrestlers who people wouldn’t immediately come up with when a wrestling fan named their favorites or ones they remember
Give me:
Magnum TA
Paul Orndorff
Nikita Koloff
Greg Valentine
Shane Douglass
Lance Storm
Super Calo and The Yeti lol
I actually considered including the first 3 guys you mentioned who were all personal favorites of mine: MagnumTA, Mr. Wonderful and the Russian Nightmare. They probably should have at least all been on the honorable mention list.
I was not implying that these wrestlers were never adored by fans, it was more that they never received the big time push that they probably deserved. Thanks for reading and commenting.
I was raised on AWA so I would have like to see The High Flyer, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunsel go further than they did. Greg’s father Verne was also a favorite.
Like I mentioned, I started off on AWA as well. The High Flyers are another example of a strong tag team that never really received the opportunity for individual glory.
The AWA was the first live wrestling match I was able to attend as a kid. Had front row seats and it hooked me in to wrestling even more at a young age. Baron Von Raschke, The Crusher, Mad Dog Vachon, Rock n Roll Buck Zumhoff, Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan, The Road Warriors, Jerry Blackwell, Nick Bockwinkle, Shiek Adnan El Kasey, the list goes on and on (and so do the great memories!)
good list, at first I thought no way Ricky is underrated, and then the Von Erichs, but I see what you mean. They were so talented they should have been as big as Hogan but weren’t.
Yes, that is the angle I tried to use. Who deserved a much bigger push than they ever received. There are certainly different ways to go at it and underrated is very subjective to begin with. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Where’s CoCo B. Ware or Jimmy “Superfly” Snukka?